MUMBAI: One of Bollywood’s most noted photographers, Jagdish Mali, was recently rescued off the streets with the help of Salman Khan and Mink Brar.

Mink Brar, a model who was last seen in Big Boss season 6, spotted the photographer – who was half naked and disheveled, and looked completely lost. The actress who was with her brother, noticed him outside a food joint on Yari road while she was distributing blankets to beggars in Mumbai.

Mink approached the photographer to help, but when her attempts failed, she contacted ‘Bigg Boss 6’ host Salman Khan, known for his charitable endeavours. The superstar immediately sent a car with four people to escort the photographer back to his apartment.

The photographer only had a torn t-shirt covering his body. Mink helped him by covering him up with a pair of shorts and even gave him some food. She said, “He was covered with faeces and looked as though he had not eaten in a while. He seemed very disturbed and completely disconnected.”

Mink recalls that when she spoke to him, he said he wanted to go to his studio. But, the photographer had already sold off his studio a while back owing to financial difficulties. Since then, he has been fighting depression and alcoholism. Mink had even tried contacting the photographer’s daughter, Bollywood actress Antara Mali, who is said to be busy with her new born baby.

Jagdish Mali was a known photographer of the 80’s. He was renowned for immortalizing the beauty of gorgeous Rekha. He also shot celebs like Preity Zinta, Twinkle Khanna, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Milind Gunaji, Deepti Bhatnagar, Dimple Kapadia and many others.

After this incident, the photographer was taken to Lonavala by his caretaker. But he is now back in the city and in his apartment. Dinesh Chaturvedi, president of Federation of Western India Cine Employees, was concerned and hence paid him a visit and said, “He had collapsed. But he is okay now.”

However, Antara Mali broke her silence today by denying the reports of her father being mentally ill. She said, “His condition is such that at times, if he forgets his insulin shot, he gets disoriented. At such times opening a simple door latch can be a challenge. This may happen once in six months, the rest of the time he’s fully functioning and normal. This is what happened that evening.”

Proud of her father’s legacy, who is an incredible artist, she said that, “We don’t need anybody’s help…. he has a lot of goodwill in the film and fashion industry.”

The actress who was nowhere to be seen, when her father was on the street says, “This may be a publicity stunt by someone trying to capitalise on his ill health and has accomplished nothing but damage a 35-year-old glorious career. My dad is not an alcoholic but has a chronic liver disorder along with heavy diabetes. He hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol for 15 years. He is sober.”

Jagdish Mali who was diagnosed with a liver disorder back in the ’98, is now healthy and safe at home.